"Regroup in the central room," Shadow called out to his charges. "I'm going to finish examining the hall, and if I don't see anything else then we're going to cross over to the other side of the maze."

Andromeda had been the first to react to Zorya's sudden disappearance with the suggestion, but he would reinforce it with actual authority. Mere moments ago, he thought he had registered movement in his peripheral vision, but heard little else until Ribbon had screamed. By that point, it was too late. Another senshi had been claimed by the maze's sinister traps.

He couldn't risk another loss, even if it was the most difficult member of their team.

"That means you too, Leviathan." Shadow turned to make eye contact with the senshi of illusions, indicating that the lit room was where she belonged next.

Ribbon, still rocking back and forth with her back against the wall, regarded Europa with wide eyes. She listened to the girl, though she did not remove her hands from over her ears. "People are falling through walls," she stated, her voice quivering; it was all she said, as though it was an answer in and of itself.

Achelois grinned as she listened to Nocturnus release what she was thinking.  Fear but a desire to act anyways, she's going to be really strong one day.  "You're absolutely right, we need to help Ribbon and the others as much as we can."  She felt the young girl's adoring eyes on her, if only she knew what I was like before who I am now.  Maybe someday I can tell her about it. She heard Shadow call for everyone to head into what had been Ribbon's jail cell.  For now I need to get Ribbon to calm down as well. "C'mon we need to go calm Ribbon so we can keep moving towards the end."

Her eyes flew upon as Shadow's fist suddenly started banging on the metal beside her, and irritation fought briefly with sympathy as she removed her forehead from the panel. She could only guess what he was feeling - Aktypris had called out for him, specifically, among all of them - but did he think so little of her as to believe his pounding on panels she had just checked would result in anything different, especially as - unless she had gone deaf - Aktypris had not been punching the wall to activate the trap. She held her tongue, giving him the benefit of the doubt, but continued to stare at the wall to make sure her frustration wasn't in her eyes. 

She appreciated Achelois's discretion, and the warmth in her partner's voice calming her somewhat, until Leviathan's frightened condemnation reminded her of the difficulties to come in regaining the party's confidence. She glanced to her right, towards the bright light of the room's opening, to see Soul bringing Leviathan forward; behind her, she spied Andromeda comforting Nocturnus, and felt better about their chances; they had women with good heads on their shoulders - they could make it through ---

And then Ribbon screamed and Enyalius whirled to look at her, brushing into Leviathan in the tight space, and watched as the pink-haired girl dashed into the lit room. Achelois's jump alerted her immediately, and as the blonde hit the wall, Enyalius put out her arm behind Leviathan to squeeze herself through, to Achelois's side. "Enya! We just lost Zorya to the wall!" Achelois cried out, her chin barely moving as her words escaped through clenched teeth. As she moved aside, Enya took her place, bracing her hands on either side and pushing against the metal with all her might. Her boots skidded backward on the wet floor; she reset and tried again, part of her knowing already that it was too late. Whomever had set the traps must have done something to ensure it could not be tripped again. 

She straightened, agreeing with the multiple warnings that had been given on multiple occasions within the last few minutes - they needed to be careful not to touch the walls in the future. She was thinking quickly - a buddy system needed to be implemented; looking out for someone in particular, beyond themselves, could make sure simple mistakes would not be made, and that someone wouldn't disappear without anyone else knowing. Shadow called for them to regroup again and she agreed, but his next statement made her stiffen.

She turned to face him, her copper eyes baring down on him, but waited for the group to leave the hallway before she addressed it.

First Sailor Soul was pushing her. Now Shadow was trying to get her to go in too. Sailor Leviathan couldn't believe it. How could the group be so idiotic! Oh right, anyone with a blind sense of justice and pride who would easily accept going on such a dangerous mission for free was an idiot. She was only here to improve her strength and that would mean nothing if she died.

"I'm not going where Ribbon's going," she nearly pleaded with Shadow in a condescending tone. "Don't you get it? She's the one manipulating the whole thing with that other guy from before! She's got to be leading the rest of us into a trap! Leviathan Illusion!"

Leviathan attempted to completely disappear from sight in order to evade any possible move to get her to enter the room.

Nodding at Shadow's order, Soul quickly headed back to Ribbons room, intent on joining the others. Hearing Leviathan's outburst, Soul turned around, trying to gauge if she should interfere or not. 

"Leviathan! You have no proof for you accusations and you know we can't go back nor can we stay here." She shook her head as the cowardly senshi turned invisible once more. 

"You know I can use my power to find you Leviathan. It would make your life a lot easier if you just showed yourself though," Soul snapped, beginning to get frustrated with her. It was the same thing every single mission, why did she bother to come? And for another thing, how did she become the official Leviathan wrangler?

So many people had left her, left her because she couldn’t rescue them. And now it was one more person. She didn’t know her for long, nor did she know her very well – however, she still felt how her heart missed a beat when Aktypris was gone. Would her nightmares ever disappear? When people were leaving her over and over again?
 
Despite mixed feelings and pangs of remorse Panacea noticed that she was one of the calmest among their group: Ribbon spread panic, so did Leviathan.
 
And it didn’t take long, maybe a minute or two, until new turmoil were coming up. This couldn’t be happening. Was Zorya…gone too?  Fear crept in and was written all over her face. Thank goodness it was dark enough so that no one would see it.
Intuitively she looked for Vulpix, grabbing him and putting her back onto her shoulder. The pain didn’t get any better but she couldn’t risk it to lose her guardian, her companion…her best friend.
 
Among all these horrible events it was quite delighting when Shadow instructed them to go back to the lighted room. We will save you both, she thought as they went back to Ribbon’s room. I won’t let anyone down. Never again.

Sighing, she shook her head. "You have five minutes to reappear and get your behind into the other room. You seriously do not want me to come back out here and have to force you." With a last look around, and a curious look towards Enya and Shadow, who strangely hadn't moved, Soul joined the rest of their rag tag little group.

Leviathan's plea and subsequent disappearance did little to distract Enyalius; Leviathan needed tending to, probably as much as if not more than Ribbon and Nocturnus, but after turning herself invisible there was not much Enya could do. Leviathan would make her own choices; last time, she chose to follow them, and hopefully this time she would do the same, comforted by the fact that none could see her. Soul used threats in an attempt to goad Leviathan out of hiding, but eventually decided to give the girl an ultimatum and disappear into the room behind Panacea. Finally Enyalius was alone with Shadow, and whether Leviathan were hanging around or not, she would speak her mind. 
 
She spoke in low tones that she may not be overheard easily, but there was definite passion in her voice as she spoke. "If you insist on following your plan, know that we will not be waiting for you should you return." She pushed off from the wall, her eyes still intent on his as she placed herself between him and the lit room where the others waited, almost as a lioness protecting her den. "You may be used to working alone, and I can appreciate that," she said, speaking slowly and clearly, her left eyebrow quirking at the last, "But on this mission, you were designated a leader, and you let those girls down."
 
She continued, her brows lowering critically as she elaborated, "We voted to return to the room, Shadow," she pointed back to the opening, her arm straight and her stance tense, “Not continue forward. If you thought continuing forward was a better idea, you should have said so, but you didn’t.” Her hand returned to her hip. “The girls had no idea they would be travelling in new territory – we had been up and down that hallway,” she jerked her head backwards as she spoke, “At least four times – they didn’t have to keep their wits about them, they didn’t have to fear any traps, or watch their back, because that hallway had been inspected.
 
“They had been through a lot since we were sneaking around in here – they’re new, they were distracted, this was their first big mission, yet you continued forward without reminding them to be wary of their surroundings?” her disbelieving, accusatory voice lilted upward with the question, but she continued without letting him answer, shaking her head marginally. “We can’t change what’s happened, but we can attempt to not make new mistakes, and what you just suggested has got to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard you utter.
 
“What do you think is up there, huh, Shadow?” She nodded behind him, to the passageway he intended to search alone. Her voice was still quiet, questioning. “Think you can take it on alone and make it back?” Her head tilted to the side, “What if it’s one of Ribbon’s captors? Or more metallic creatures? You don’t know how far that passageway goes, or how many branches it breaks into, or what lies in the end, and yet you state that you will be going alone and suggest that we just wait for you to come back?”
 
A breath of air burst through her nose, a silent laugh, “And what if you’re captured? Or fall into a trap? Or are overcome? If they had agreed to your plan, those girls would’ve been waiting for you and you might never have returned!” she gesticulated, throwing her arms out to either side and shrugging, “And in the meantime they’d be in the room the enemy placed the captive in the first place, just hanging around waiting for you. I wonder how long it would be for that enemy to return? Surely you would’ve been back in time, right?”
 
She crossed her arms, but she wasn’t done yet. “And if not, what then? They would fight, and should they have to retreat they’d be paralyzed – if they left the room, they’d be abandoning any hope of you to return, and I doubt they would vote to abandon you to save themselves.”
 
“As I see it, you have two options: Drop the macho bullshit and continue forward with the group – we can investigate that passage all together if you think it’s important – or resign your post as a leader and member of this group and wish us luck as you strike it off on your own.”
 
Finally she stopped, regarding him critically; honestly she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. She was doing what she could in an attempt to keep the group safe, but she knew she just alienated Shadow and questioned his ability to lead all in one go. On top of that, she didn’t know what would happen if Shadow chose to leave – would the group split? But then, how could it? She wondered, her fingers drumming on her forearm,  He was going to go on alone, so his ‘team’ would be waiting in the room, and I’d never allow them to become sitting ducks if he actively chooses to abandon them and insist on tempting fate.
 

She turned back towards the room suddenly, her ponytail drifting out behind her, and approached it, deciding to let him think on it alone for a while. 

OOC:

"And if we stick together, it won't happen to you," Europa said to Ribbon. "I know that two of us disappeared, but we're all Sailor Senshi here. We knew how dangerous it could be coming here, but we'll push through and finish what we started. I bet they wouldn't have wanted you to be too afraid to move from this room. They wanted to help you escape, and we can still do that. You just have to trust us, alright?"

Europa looked up as the other senshi started moving back into the room, and smiled. "See? You won't be left alone in this maze."

Ribbons eyes were glued to Europa. Her expression was one that was torn between trusting her or clinging to the emotions that roiled inside her to the exclusion to everything else, but as the young woman continued, Ribbon started to relax. She remembered Aktypris's honest efforts - outside the privacy infringements - and Zorya's quiet disposition, and Europa's words sunk in deeper. They had wanted to rescue her. She followed Europa's gaze to the others that had entered, and looked back to her as she smiled.

She removed her hands from her ears, instead crossing them in front of her chest, between her body and her drawn-up thighs, and nodded sheepishly. She could try to be braver.

Shaking her head as she joined the rest of the group in the lit area, Soul couldn't help but wonder what Enya and Shadow were talking about. Not that its any of your business, she thought to herself. She soon paused, taking stalk of everyone in the room. 

"How are you two holding up?" she asked walking over to Europa and Ribbon. Nocturnus seemed fine, having Andromeda and Achelois to lean on.

Ribbon offered Soul a tentative smile, but not much else; she had noticed Soul and Europa talking earlier, and was fine with the notion of Europa talking for both of them at this point. She glanced back towards the entrance of the room, wondering what was keeping the other three, and then moved her gaze to the exit, and tried not to think of what could be awaiting themthere.

"I think we're ready to keep moving forward," Europa said, standing up again. She felt a little more confident after she had helped Ribbon move past her own fear. "Are we changing the plan? I thought we were going down the new hallway." Had the second disappearance caused them to change direction again?

Over time Panacea watched how more and more of her teammates returned to Ribbon’s room as well. The dimly lit room was more than pleasant after walking through the darkness for a perceived eternity. Panacea stood in the rear corner of the room, trying to get the loss of her two comrades out of her system. In the meantime she heard how Europa comforted the panicked Ribbon. They needed to get out of there soon.
 
Her thoughts were interrupted when Vulpix was wobbling on her shoulders, eventually jumping down to the ground. When she looked up she noticed that Enyalius and Shadow were missing. Where were they? Did something happen again? And where was Leviathan? Panacea was sure she heard her voice back then in the hallway.

"Leviathan will be fine. Just give her a few moments to get her head on straight again," Soul reassured Panacea after she noticed the other senshi looking back towards the hallway. "How are you holding up?"

With nothing calling her back, Enyalius entered the room, her eyes sweeping over the scene - Achelois and Andromeda stuck close to Nocturnus, the small senshi looking brave. Soul was speaking quietly with Panacea, Europa with Ribbon, and Leviathan was nowhere to be seen. She kept her face composed, neutral even, not betraying what went on in the hallway.

"We lost two people," she stated, addressing the group as she moved farther into the room. She stood in generally the center, moving towards the exit and turning to face them so she could keep an eye on everyone, and by placing herself in that direction, they would be watching her back, too. "But we'll find them again. For now, though, we need to concentrate on not letting each other fall into any more traps, and keeping our eyes open for any other dangers this maze may hold." She put one hand on her hip as she continued, "To that end, we're going to enact a buddy system. [...]"

DM wrote:

Buddy Up!
Whomever you buddy up with will be travelling beside you through the maze; you'll generally be watching each others backs (and sides and fronts and feet and heads) while keeping current to what's going on in the maze in general. XD this won't have super impact on battles or whatever, it's more for an RP security sense than anything else. 

We can either decide buddy groups quickly through skype and Enya can just announce who will be partnering with whom, or you can choose to RP picking your partner and I'll allow a few hours to get those rp thought-processes in before randomly assigning buddies to people who haven't responded in here or in the skype chat. 

=D Buddies and the next part of the maze, yaaaaaaaay

Achelois had been ready to use her energy to calm Ribbon if needed but instead found that Europa was doing well on her own.  Instead she stayed off to the side near Andromeda and Nocturnus until Enya walked in. She let her breath, she was glad that disciplining was not her responsibility although if it came down to it, she would not shy away.  Her eyes trailed Enya as she crossed through the room and placed back to the open exit opposite the hallway they had just come from.  

Buddies huh...  She looked around, at first glance Enya would be her obvious choice but in this situation it was best to have her paired up with someone newer.  She looked to Andromeda and Nocturnus, Andromeda could handle herself if need  be and Nocturnus seemed determined to stay with Ribbon.  But now Europa was doing well with Ribbon and there were still others... Ach too much! "Ribbon who would you like to be partnered with?" She asked the girl with a soft smile, it would be best to keep her with someone she felt safe with. Less chance for panic.

Ribbon watched as the armored girl strode across the room, stating clearly what was about to happen; at first she thought she would just go with whomever she was assigned to, or whomever asked her first - she'd like to travel towards the middle of the group if at all possible, but she trusted the people making the groups to pair her with someone who was good. 

But then the tall blonde one in green - Achelois? - turned the decision to her, and Ribbon eyed the floor nervously. Whom should she pick? Nocturnus had stuck by her ever sine Flax appeared, but Europa was nice, too... "I..." she started, looking away, blushing faintly, "I'll go with whomever you guys think I should go with," she stated lamely.

Achelois’ touch was comforting as usual—not just metaphorically but also literally, considering she had the power to manipulate energies. Andromeda let the calm wash over her and allowed it to give her mind some clarity. She watched as Achelois talked to Nocturnus and the latter acknowledged her feelings. Andromeda genuinely admired the girl for pushing on regardless of how scared she was. How her heart yearned to save everyone and make a difference with the power she’d been given. That was what Andromeda felt about being a senshi too. There was a certain responsibility to it.

“You want to know a secret?” she leaned in and whispered to Nocturnus. “Courage isn’t having no fear. It’s having them and being able to conquer them, continuing to push against them, which is exactly what you’re doing.” Nocturnus was incredibly brave, and Andromeda needed the girl to know it.

As they were instructed to move back into the lit room, she walked with the other two girls toward the light. Inside, she could see Europa and Ribbon, the latter looking a bit less frazzled than before, which was fortunate. Not long after, Enyalius strode in, and her confident way of stating they would rescue the others made Andromeda believe so, too. As their leader instructed them to pair up, Andromeda looked around uncertainly.

Ideally, every pair should include one newer and one more experienced senshi. She knew Nocturnus wanted to watch over Ribbon, but… should those two be together? Europa seemed to be having a good effect on Ribbon, but Andromeda didn’t know how many missions like these she’d taken on. And she herself would love partnering up with a healer who’d saved her life countless times, but it felt a bit selfish when she herself had so many weapons and defenses on her arsenal.

“What about pairing up newer senshi with more experienced ones?” she suggested.

Enyalius nodded to Andromeda, "I think that's a good choice. How about..." with a little input from everyone, they constructed their group pairings, leaving spaces for Leviathan and Shadow in their plans. 

Eventually, they were generally agreed: "I'll pair with Leviathan in the lead," a sardonic smile formed somewhere in the back of Enyalius's mind - she was sure Leviathan would love being in the lead of this train - "Soul with Europa, Ribbon and Nocturnus, Andromeda and Panacea, and Achelois with Shadow." She was still completely unsure as to Shadow's response to her earlier outburst - would he even reenter the room? Or strike it out on his own? What would she tell everyone if he did choose to leave? She set her mouth, but otherwise did not reveal the quick decision that she made: if Shadow did not return, she would still place Achelois at the rear, putting her friend in a position to see everyone and react accordingly to any emergency that should arise. And if Leviathan were following, she hoped the salt-water senshi would stick close to Achelois if she didn't want to join her, Enyalius, at the front of the line.

"Next decision, then," Enyalius announced, her eyes flashing back to the other opening, "Is how we'll choose directions. Without the EM signals to guide us, we don't have a lot to go off of when choosing pathways. If Achelois meditates we can pick up life-signals," she mentioned, "But we'd need to choose whether we want to head towards those signals or away. What are your thoughts?"  She kept the question opened to everyone - she certainly didn't have all the answers here, and would make no presumptions otherwise.

The idea of pairing up made sense, especially after the last two scares the group had. Europa was secretly relieved that she was being paired with Soul. She did like Ribbon, but she had a feeling that she would trust Sailor Nocturnus more. And being close to the lead meant that she had a little more room to work with if they were attacked.


"If we're aiming for the generator, then we should head away from signs of life. They would only lead to more enemies, right?" Europa said.

"But we don't know if those signs of life are near the generator or not. For all we know, there are people guarding it, which is a possibility we need to take into consideration," Soul said. "Perhaps if we find someone else in here, we can possible figure out what is going on."


It was honestly a dangerous plan, but what other choice did they have? They had to get ribbon and themselves out of this confounded maze as well as attempt to find their friends.

Andromeda glanced at Panacea—her new partner. She gave the other girl an encouraging smile. She didn’t know Panacea that well but she was looking forward to getting to know her better. Despite the lack of personal connection, she would treat Panacea like any other precious comrade and protect her at all costs.

Enya was talking again, and she listened carefully, thinking about the options. Her first thought was, like Europa, to head away from their potential enemies. Ribbon had said there were more of them, and she wasn’t looking forward to that person in particular that she referred only as ‘He’. That seemed like really bad news. On the other hand, what if those very people were in the generator room that they were searching for? It would make sense for it to be their kind of headquarters or their security room like Soul mentioned. And there was the fact that it seemed their enemy was watching them. All the traps… the closed way back, the metal scorpions… She had no illusions about it; their enemy was watching their every move. They would have a bigger problem getting out of here without defeating those enemies first.

But should they drag Ribbon and all the other newer senshi into the fight? That was the problem. It was an effective plan, yet dangerous. And it was unfair to bring these people who didn’t want a fight into a battle they might not survive. Yet splitting up wasn’t an option, either; they couldn’t possibly send the newer senshi and Ribbon into a possible escape route on their own.

No plan was good enough. So the lesser of two evils it was.

“I vote to move toward the signs of life.” Then something else occurred to her. “Perhaps if Zorya and Aktypris are still—” She quickly amended, “I mean, if Achelois finds more than one signs of life… it might turn out to be them. Then we can find them and then rescue them.”

Before Shadow could begin his reply, Enya shut the door on their 'conversation' by returning to Ribbon's room to further discuss her plans for getting out of the prison. There was something ironic and funny about the circumstances leading up to the senshi leader's outburst; if she had waited for the senshi to leave before dressing him down, she could have easily afforded him the chance to speak. The best thing to do was to discard and ignore this one-sided argument, even if it was coming from the one person who held authority over him in this rescue operation.

But Enya had to make it personal. Though she was no diplomat, she chose the worst method to make her case. Fighting with her wasn't a productive endeavor, but if she knew that and used it as leverage to speak to him in such a manner, then he had every right to be offended.

Shadow turned and looked around himself, speaking to the darkness as if one person was there to overhear everything that happened. "Leviathan, if you picked up everything that Enyalius dropped at my feet, then disregard most of it. No one is going to settle our differences except for ourselves. Still, she is partially correct; you are going to have a better chance at making it out of here alive if you join the senshi."

Correct, as in her facts were solid. Shadow couldn't fault her for using verified knowledge. But Enyalius had chosen to use more than facts in her argument, and if she had bothered to give Shadow proper time to respond, he would have ripped it to shreds for being loaded with logical fallacies and distorted presumptions of his character and intent. Whether or not Enya had intended to use ad hominem was now irrelevant; the damage had been done. It left a bitter taste in Shadow's mouth and an icy glaze on his tone of voice that was difficult to reconcile with his concern for the senshi of illusion.

"Please, come with us. We'll find the others and get out of here; though Ribbon is an accessory to this scheme to trap the Sol Senshi, we can't leave her to the 'mercy' of Flax and his associates. I will not let her harm you or anyone else, if she is truly up to no good."

Drawing a deep breath, Shadow willed himself to return to Ribbon's room and listen to whatever plan Enya decided to cook up for getting them out alive. His distant gaze settled back on the two doors leading out of the chamber, watching them for potential danger.

Panacea was surprised when Soul answered her unspoken question. Could she read her mind? “Yeah, I think you’re right,” she eventually said, smiling at Soul’s comment.
 
“I’m doing fine so far. I just hope we won’t lose any more people,” she continued, now more serious. I’m tired of losing comrades, Panacea thought to herself.
 
Just as she said that, Enyalius made an announcement, instructing them to pair up so that they won’t fall in any more traps. Panacea looked around, searching for an appropriate partner. A good fighter would be great, she thought. After all, she couldn’t fight at all. But as she looked around, she noticed that there were lots of good choices – most of them were able to fight. At the end she decided to settle back into her corner and to see who’d be left.
 
However, after some of them bandied looks, Enyalius changed her mind and decided herself. Panacea closed her eyes, waiting for her name.
Enyalius’ decision was more than satisfying. Andromeda…Panacea didn’t know her very well but she knew that she was good at fighting and quite experienced. She looked up, looking for her new partner and gave a friendly smile back. Healer and fighter – good choice, she thought to herself as she moved towards Andromeda who was already focusing on the next problem.

Sailor Nocturnus

The golden star charms on her uniform lightly chimed against each other as she turned to look up at the pink-haired girl. Nocturnus was glad that the pep-talk from Europa had helped Ribbon regroup, mentally. She only hoped the young woman wouldn't be dismayed to find herself paired with the youngest party member; Sailor Nocturnus felt slightly down about having failed to provide any reassurance during the commotion in the hallway to the person she had decided to protected. She worried it would make Ribbon think less of her, particularly as the woman wasn't entirely trusting of the sailor soldiers as a group. (It prooooobably didn't help that Leviathan accused her of wrong-doing at every opportunity.)

"Are you okay with me? Would you rather have someone else?" she asked, trepidation in her voice.

It would certainly hurt her pride to be turned down by her chosen charge, but at least she'd rather bring it up now instead of learning it later in the maze. Still, there was a strong glimmer of determination in the dark eyes of the smaller sailor soldier, and she didn't shy away from eye contact with Ribbon. Sailor Nocturnus was truly prepared to dedicate herself to this task... if she was deemed worthy.

Enyalius nodded, listening to each idea and explanation, agreeing with counterpoints made, but not announcing a decision just yet. 

At Andromeda's mention of using Achelois's abilities to possibly find Aktypris and Zorya, Enyalius caught her initial mistake, and appreciated that Andromeda rephrased it so quickly and naturally, but it gave her another idea. Her eyes slid momentarily over to Soul, who could communicate and make contracts with spirits in the vicinity; while Achelois could sense lifeforms, it took some time for concentration and meditation, and depending on the distance she wasn't sure if Achelois could definitely identify the girls, but if they had passed on... Soul could. It was a morbid idea, but having Soul check for their spirits may be the prudent thing to do. 

Shadow reentered the room then, looking none too pleased. She didn't draw attention to him, or spend much attention on him, but decided then that if he chose to rebuke her arguments now, in front of the rest of the group, she would not hesitate to answer them. She had waited for everyone to clear the hallway as a nod of respect towards his position, and had waited - albeit a short period of time - for him to respond and he hadn't then, but if he chose to air or continue their disagreement with the rest of the group as an audience instead, she would oblige him.

Until or unless that happened, however, she waited to hear Achelois's opinion; based on their reasoning, she was more inclined to follow Soul and Andromeda's suggestion and head towards the life signs in hopes of finding and breaking the generator by way of locating its assumed protector, but she wanted to hear Achelois's thoughts - and the thoughts of anyone who wanted to share them - before making an official decision.

Ribbon listened closely to her assignment, and breathed a sigh of relief. By the sound of things, she and Nocturnus would be in the middle of the group, and so shouldn't run into any surprises from either end. She smiled up at Europa, glad the girl with the scythe would still be close by, and pulled herself to her feet, ready to move whenever they decided it was time. As they talked about sensing life forms and a generator and directions, Shadow reentered the room and Ribbon felt even safer; Flax could teleport, but so could Shadow, and Shadow fought well, too. She was glad to see nothing had happened to him in the hall where the others had disappeared.

She was slightly distracted when Nocturnus timidly asked her question - where was the mean one? Leviathan? But the nervous tone brought Ribbon back, reminding her of a family member. "Yeah, I'm fine with you," Ribbon replied, trying to sound playful, but the look in Nocturnus's eyes told her that to her, it wasn't a game, that the young warrior was as intent on helping her as her older counterparts. She was touched; though they may already be in the middle of the group, she did feel better about being paired with her, despite her age. She was brave. In a more serious tone, she continued, "You're brave, and I'm lucky to have you."